Washington State Seeks Cap on Lawsuit Payouts | Tacoma Injury Lawyer

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A severe or fatal auto accident is not only difficult on a victim physically, but mentally, emotionally and financially as well. As a Kirkland auto accident attorney and Bellevue wrongful death lawyer I have seen the mental anxiety and depression that a sever auto accident can cause as a victim deal with the knowledge that they will never fully recover. No amount of money can compensate for this loss of ability, self identity and independence, but now the Washington State government seeks to decrease the monetary compensation for these severe injuries even more.

As Washington State faces a deficit of over 5 billion dollars the government has been searching for ways to cover the shortfall. Education and safety have seen enormous cuts in the previous years as school districts have been faced with millions of dollars in cuts and police have been shorthanded in order to decrease spending. Now the government looks to find some extra money by placing a cap on the state?s lawsuit payouts.

For the victims of serious accidents in which the states negligence is found to blame this proposed cap creates concern. If this cap is put into effect cases such as Koti Hu?s will be in serious trouble. Koti Hu was rear ended while entering I-405 on an onramp in July of 2007. Hu?s car was stopped on the onramp when a painting truck struck his vehicle at 50 mph which broke Hu?s neck and has left him in a wheel chair. Hu was a musician; a singer, pianist and violinist and can no longer perform.

The jury not only found the driver of the painting truck at fault, but also found the onramp dangerous and awarded Hu $30 million dollars between the two at-fault parties. You may think $30 million dollars is a lot, but after spending months in the hospital, years in physical therapy and losing one?s means for income $30 million dollars doesn?t quite seem like such a high amount.

With the proposed cap on lawsuit payouts victims, such as Hu, will not receive adequate compensation for serious injuries that destroy their abilities, livelihood and mental health. It is sad enough for one persons negligence to dramatically alter another?s life- shouldn?t the victims at least be compensated monetarily for their loss?